Megan Gottscho & Andrea van der Kuil

Describe who you are, what do you, and what you hope to be doing more of

Megan Gottscho:

I’m an art kid. It all began when I used to perform my own made-up plays and dances to Britney Spears for my family in the lounge. Not much has changed since then except that I’m about to get a degree in Performing and Visual Arts which will hopefully help me move my performances out of our lounge. I majored in directing and physical theatre, both of which I am incredibly passionate about and which have complimented each other well. Up next is an honours in psychology and then the world is my creative Oyster. I hope to travel and learn from the world and use these experiences to create edgy, and innovative theatre.

Andrea van der Kuil:

I am a creative, dog-lover, coffee-addict and book store frequenter. I recently graduated with a BA Performing and Visual Arts and am now finding my feet as a freelance performer and designer. I have predominantly worked in theatre alongside the likes of Sylvaine Strike, Sarah Roberts, Mwenya Kabwe and Roberto Pombo.

I am grateful that design allows me to use various creative skills such as painting, drawing and sculpting, however, I also enjoy travelling, writing and vlogging, and hope to use more of these aspects in my professional realm. I am currently taking part in a design residency in Berlin and hope to do both performance and design work in both South Africa and Europe in the future. I have been an Irish dancer for 13 years, competing in the top section in South Africa and qualifying for and competing at the World Championships.

I am lucky to say that I do what I love.

What was your relationship with Shortstraw before this?

MG:

This was my first close interaction with them other than seeing their shows and briefly meeting them when out and about in Jozi. It really was a wonderful experience, they’re a rad and talented bunch of guys.

AvdK:

Fan girl.

When I first heard of Shortstraw I was not convinced by the idea of another South African band. After hearing their sweet sweet tunes, however, I was instantaneously converted to a fan girl, which made working with them an amazing experience!

What was your process and inspiration in making what you did?

Fortunately the process for this music video came so organically that it ended up just being a lot of fun. We have been working together with Meagan on a lot this year, so we know how each one of us works and how we gel as a system. We were inspired by the band’s vision of balletic images in black and white, however, the song strongly juxta-posed this aesthetic. We are not predominantly ballet dancers but rather physical theatre performers and so the three of us decided to play with the deconstruction of the balletic form. Under Meagan’s amazing instruction as a choreographer and ballet teacher we started creating movement from improvisation or just groovin’ to how the song made us move.

What are the best places on the internet we can list to show off your work?

I am currently working on a play for my final directing piece which is essentially my first step into putting my debut full-length work out into the world. It’s due to be performed some time at the end of November. Stay tuned with that at https://www.facebook.com/gooeytheplay/?fref=ts

Or otherwise just get a vibe of who I am on my Instagram account @meg_gottscho

AvdK:

Keep up to date with all my happenings on any of the following platforms!